foodperson.com

I love convenience foods like asparagus and eggs—that is, convenience foods that Mother Nature makes. With asparagus and eggs, you can make a meal faster than the guy next door can pry open a box and the interior packaging of Hamburger Helper.

For instance, I wanted a nice hot meal but didn’t want to spend a lot of time cooking it. I pulled out a fat stalk of asparagus, a green onion and two eggs, all local. (The pale egg is a lovely shade of blue-green, but you can’t tell against the blue-green countertop.) I take 10 seconds (maybe) to cut the asparagus into bite-size bits and thinly slice the onion.

I toss them into a small skillet with a tablespoon or so of olive oil over medium-high heat. While the pan heats up and the vegetables start to sizzle, I crack open the eggs into a small bowl and beat them with a tablespoon of water. On a whim, I mince some lemon balm and add it to the eggs. Now, less than a minute after turning on the heat, I add the eggs to the pan and throw a couple pieces of Farm to Market bread in the toaster.

Darned if I didn’t fail to spread the oil around well enough, and the eggs stick. No omelet here. But scrambled eggs with onion and asparagus work for me, too, so I turn them as best I can and when they’re cooked, maybe, oh, two minutes later, I transfer the eggs to a plate and wait for the toast to finish.

I add a little extra lemon balm as a garnish. (Presentation isn’t my strong suit, but I try.) Voila! Hot, savory broken asparagus omelet with toast. Delicious and satisfying.

The guy next door? If he’s lucky, his high-salt, low-fiber convenience meal will be ready about the time I’m done with the dishes. Too bad for him. Maybe someday he’ll learn about real convenience foods.